Girls’ Volleyball: Oilers 6-0 in league

LOS ALAMITOS — The start to the Huntington Beach High girls’ volleyball match at Los Alamitos ran behind schedule. It began almost an hour after the original scheduled time on Tuesday because of an extra lower-level contest.

Soon after the opening serve, it didn’t take long for Huntington Beach to take control.

The Oilers did drop the second set, but they continued their winning ways in the Sunset League. They beat the Griffins, 25-16, 22-25, 25-12, 25-23.

Only one team — Los Alamitos — in league has taken a set from Huntington Beach (25-2, 6-0 in league). The Oilers, ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, have been that dominant, and they won their 19th consecutive league contest.

The last team to knock off the Oilers in league was Los Alamitos, coming at Los Alamitos on Oct. 23, 2014. Almost two years later, Huntington Beach wasn’t going down in the same gym.

Sure, the Griffins split the first two sets with Huntington Beach. Winning Game 2 took a lot out of the hosts, who almost let the Oilers rally back from 20-12 deficit. Nicole Elder (14 kills) and Mackenzie Smith (10 kills) came through with a kill each down the stretch to hold off Huntington Beach, 25-22.

The next two sets went to the Oilers, who boasted too much firepower. Outside hitter Cami Sanchez led Huntington Beach with 19 kills, and Bailey Nelson added 14 kills. Opposites Jillian Kim and Anna Carroll contributed 13 and 10 kills, respectively.

“When we get that balance, it’s going to make it a lot easier [to score] and also a lot tougher to defend [us],” Huntington Beach Coach Craig Pazanti said. “I think it was a real team effort.”

The Oilers will need another group effort on Thursday. They play host to No. 5-ranked Edison, which is in second place one match back of Huntington Beach.

The Griffins, who are 3-3 in league, tried to draw closer to first-place Huntington Beach, but they got off to a slow start. Defending league champion Huntington Beach produced the first five points on the night.

Ashlynn Willingham and Carroll teamed up to stuff Elder’s shot. The next three points came off kills, two in a row by Sanchez, a UCLA-bound senior, and one by Carroll.

Huntington Beach setter Cristina Baily, who moved the ball, also swung at a ball. After feeding middle blocker Julia Jackson, Sanchez and Maggie Baker, Baily surprised the Griffins with a left-handed shot that landed in for a point.

Seven different Oilers had a kill in the opening set, showing their balanced attack. Nelson and Kim came off the bench and played well late in Game 1. Nelson had five kills and Kim added three kills, the last two libero Ashley Stevens picked up the assist.

The only hiccup for Huntington Beach came in Game 2. Los Alamitos’ Abby Karich got her team off to a strong start with two kills and a block, and midway through the set, Julia Dibona and Abby Blasi combined for three service aces.

Sanchez helped the get the Oilers back on track. She recorded the first point in Game 3 off a kill. Then Jackson turned away two shots, and Huntington Beach led, 3-0. The advantage grew to as high as 13 four times.

Game 4 featured 13 ties. It was tight throughout, and then the Oilers went on a 5-0 run to go ahead, 21-17. Nelson had three kills during the stretch, while Sanchez and Carroll dropped in a kill each.

“We’re down … right there and we come back and take the lead,” said Los Alamitos Coach Dave Huber, whose team scored six of the next seven points to go up, 23-22, only to see Kim hammer a kill to tie it and then Sanchez finish things off with two kills. “We always fight back. But we haven’t been able to push over the hump yet [against the Oilers].”